Word: uruzgan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Uruzgan is a longtime Taliban stronghold. "[Taliban leader] Mullah Omar grew up here," says former Dutch battlegroup commander Jelte Groen. "It was the first province to fall to the Taliban in 1994." With its rugged terrain, long history of opium growing, and network of smugglers' trails, Uruzgan "provides a safe haven for drug transport and moving troops," Groen adds. "So it is a very crucial area...
...Gizab, about 100 km northeast of Tarin Kowt, the Taliban have established Sharia law and made the town a way-station for opium smugglers. ISAF patrols have not ventured into the town for a couple of years. The number of Taliban fighters in Uruzgan is unknown - estimates range from 300 to 3,000 - but there is no doubting the effectiveness of their terror tactics. In November, on the vital highway between Tarin Kowt and Kandahar, capital of the adjacent province, five Afghan police manning Australian-built checkpoints were killed and their corpses strung up as a warning against collaboration with...
...Australian special forces, on the other hand, have been accused of fighting too aggressively. Few question their effectiveness at disrupting the enemy and tracking and killing "high-value targets." The previous Taliban boss of Uruzgan, Qari Faizullah Mohammed, was sitting under an almond tree at Tora Chena, about 8 km from Tarin Kowt, when "somehow the Australians managed to target his seat under the tree and dropped a bomb on it," says elder Obeidullah. "They killed 33 Taliban that day." After tracking Taliban leader Mullah Pi Mohammed into the mountains near Deh Roshan, Australian troops killed him and most...
...Crossfire casualties Successful as the Australians have been, "with Australian special forces, sometimes civilians are getting killed," says General Mohammed Sabir, commander of the Afghan Army brigade in Uruzgan. An Australian Defence spokesman refused to comment on incidents, operations or tactics, but said Australian troops take all reasonable steps to avoid endangering the lives of non-combatants. "It should be noted," the spokesman added, "that Taliban tactics routinely use human shields, intimidation and stand-over techniques which put the lives of civilians at risk." The ISAF pays compensation to the families of killed civilians; about $1,200 was paid...
...stringent ISAF rules of engagement are sometimes given different emphases by the Dutch and the Australians. In October, the Dutch tipped off Uruzgan's new governor, Assadullah Hamdam, that a major operation, Spin Ghar, was about to be conducted in the Baluchi Valley, 16 km north of Tarin Kowt. They dropped leaflets and broadcast messages telling villagers how to protect themselves during the operation, which involved Australian, Dutch, Afghan and British forces. Rietdijk says Spin Ghar uncovered many weapons caches without a single civilian casualty. But Australian SAS sergeant Matthew Locke was shot dead on a reconnaissance mission, and Dutch...